Sun 8/30 - AM 150 minutes

Out and back along the Minuteman RT. 78 minutes to the Bedford depot, 72 back, although I stopped a bit short of where I had started by the Mall parking lot. Made it through the 20+ miles but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. As I approached the 2 hour mark I didn't think there was any chance of making it back to Alewife w/o stopping and walking at least part of the way. That ended up not happening, but still faded the last 15-20 minutes in a near-bonk situation. Warmed up the second half of the run after a pleasantly cool start, humidity a consistent presence. Most troubling though is how painfully sore my right oblique became soon after finishing the run. Unlike any of the previous longer runs I've done this summer, incl. the billygoat routes in Northfield/Winchester. Adductor a bit tight during the run, but obviously the oblique had to take over for it at some point and got overworked. Given that the length of the run wasn't that much different, and the terrain was pancake-flat, it had to be the relatively faster pace of this long run. Fast being a relative term, as I took mile splits (assuming the lines painted on the trail are accurate) on the return trip. Miles 11-13 were a sparkling 7:14 average. The next five miles were all between 7:02 and 7:03, remarkably consistent but hardly earth-shattering. Those miles took a lot of effort for being that pace on a flat surface. The ongoing effects of the adductor injury make it harder to run fast, and running fast incurs more damage. Fantastic. The fact it's the oblique that took the brunt of it also a bummer, it hadn't been bothering me for some time. Of course I hadn't tried running long and relatively hard in a long time either. Not sure how quickly I'll bounce back from this setback.